Can you explain something to me?  In my last two homes the street has been resurfaced and both times the black top has gone down and then, after the job looked done, the workers came back and dug a bunch of holes, did work of some kind, then patched the holes. The result was a bumpy patchwork instead of a smooth new road. Just now, behind my current house, the city built a new library and built a beautiful new parking lot but today they brought in some kind of machine that's removing the surface and dumping the scraped up blacktop into dump trucks.  Is this just the way it works or do these actions mean mistakes were made in the original construction?

Union Jobs Program.

What, what was the question?


I was looking at your avatar, and well uh,

I'll be right back.

Man holes or drains. Some times you just pave over them and cut them out and raise them to grade later. That machine is called a milling machine, rather then Dig out all the black top and start fresh from stone you just remove the top layer.

A pic:

Bad planning.

And what they are doing now is milling. Those millings are used in new mix at certain %'s

Not necessarily, you can do full depth for replacement. Now days alot of people are doing full depth reclamation.

In addition to the stuff stated above about utilities, we often will take core samples of the pavement to check that the target density was achieved (especially in the joints where two "passes" of the paver meet).  Think of it as a quality control check of the work, the holes are usually about 6" across and should be filled up with compacted cold mix...

Tell me more about your avatar?

Why on the joints ? Do yall stagger yalls joints ?

You can yes. I didn't mean to imply that's the only way.

It's from the FX show "The League" - Google "Shiva Jenny kiss" and you'll get the GIF.  I tried hard to animate my avatar but couldn't get it to fit 20K.  I seriously want to occupy ARFcom for more avatar storage

Several things could have happened-

1) They could have over-compacted the asphalt, causing cracks and therefore had to cut, dig out and patch certain areas.
2) Some sort of underground work came up after or hadnt been finished before the asphalt was layed (two or more contractors not on the same page)
3) They might have gotten the drainage wrong and had to re-do it due to "bird baths" or small areas holding water.
4) As for the machine (milling machine or planer) removing the entire area, they could have not met the density requirement/specs for the job.
5) There could have been a base material failure that was not detected until they layed the asphalt and rolled it several times with the double drum asphalt roller. Then they noticed a soft spot. Thats probably the most common problem right there.

Again, these are just guesses without seeing the actual failures in person and there are several other possibilities as well. Basically it comes down to the guys in the field screwing up the job and having to re-do it. It happens from time to time in the world of asphalt, because you have to get things just right the first time.

ETA: Yeah thats a Wirtgen W120F 4' drum milling machine. We have one just like it. On that project, they're milling and re-laying that parking lot. You have to mill down the old asphalt when you have concrete curbs like that, or else your 6" tall curb becomes a 4" tall curb, among other reasons. Also, If you have a concrete curb and gutter design, you have to mill down 2" below the gutter, so you can tie in to the top of the gutter with the top of your new asphalt.

I was going to say core samples.

I worked on the road for a year.

Got good at shitting just about anywhere.

The paving machine don't stop for anything except hydraulic leaks.

And rain.

The pic you posted is of a mill.  It's pretty standard procedure to do a mill and fill on parking lots and residential streets.  The subgrade isn't usually messed up so it's much cheaper to just to an overlay than to demo the whole thing and repave.  The plant can recycle a portion of the millings into the new asphalt as well, saving some cost.  

Edit: if it was a new lot and they're milling it up, their oil content was way low.  They done fucked up...

A lot of people around here buy the millings and have it spread on driveways.  After a nice hot Carolina summer of driving over it, it becomes just like asphalt again. (only bumpier).

They do this shit all the time in west michigan.

They are repaving a bridge downtown and the repaved part is more bumpy and uneven then the old stuff.

Just the other day I drove past 9 guys standing around 1 guy trying to get a manhole cover open. Even got a pic on my phone.


Gotta make that union monies

Trust me... they are worth way more as recycle than as rap material.

 

Well, since it's almost 9:00 at night  and they're still working I'm gonna guess someone fucked up.

I just haul the stuff  I:E; road grindings and asphalt.


But, the crews I work with pave around the manhole covers,and what not, while they're putting the scratch down with the paver. And, the same when we put the top coat on. Our jobs are always smooth and look nice.


The "scratch" is the first layer----it always looks a little rough, roller marks, tire tracks here and there. The "top coat" which is put on a few days later, after the 'scratch' has set up, always looks smooth and flat.